These are essays that I have written as I sought the connection between Cooley families in America and our possible origins in Europe.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Cooleys in Ireland and England

This is a summary of a trip that my wife Cynthia and I made (May 2008) to visit Cooley related sites in Ireland and England. I also met with researchers at Trinity College Dublin who have been active in surname-DNA studies, and with the cofounder of EthnoAncestry, a genetics lab based in Dublin and Edinburgh which does DNA testing for genealogical purposes. I have prepared this report for my new found cousins in the Cooley Family Association of America (CFAA).

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Ireland was to explore the Cooley Peninsula, which is about 50 miles north of Dublin, in County Louth. I thought that would be a good place to find possible relatives. I also wanted to find Cooley Point, which is the eastern tip of the Cooley Peninsula. We have a summer place in New Hampshire which is on a point of land on a salt water bay in Durham, NH, which we named Cooley Point, without knowing that one existed in Ireland.

My main discovery of this trip is that all of the Cooley references in and around County Louth, where the Cooley peninsula is located, have nothing to do with the Cooley surname, but are based upon the place name Cuailnge, which is Irish for Cooley. This location is very famous because it is where the “Cattle Raid of Cooley” (the best known Irish epic in the Ulster Cycle) took place. So there is the Cooley Distillery, the Cooley Lodge, the Cooley Tractor Festival, the Cooley Mountains, and of course Cooley Point, all derived from that famous epic myth, with no relationship to any Cooley family name whatsoever.

One of my meetings in Dublin was with Dr. Katherine Simms of Trinity College. She is a co-author of several papers on the DNA-surname relationship that have come out of the Smurfit Institute at Trinity. She is a medieval historian who has specialized in the study of Irish surnames. She pointed out to me that the Cooley Peninsula was a dead end as far as locating Cooley families, and my visits there confirmed that. For example, we visited the Cooley Distillery, tasted some great Irish whiskey, and learned that the founder and owner was a Harvard grad who named his firm after the Cooley Peninsula, a place name, not a family name. We found no Cooley families in County Louth.

Dr. Simms suggested that County Galway and County Clare would be good places to find Cooley families, and that they would be derived from the Irish clan MacKilcooley. A property survey of Ireland (1848-64) confirms that. There were more Cooley households in those two counties than in all of the rest of Ireland. But she doubted that this Irish clan was the source of our Cooley family founder Benjamin Cooley, since Benjamin is more likely an English first name, and the Irish Cooley clan is Catholic, and Benjamin was a protestant.

My other meeting in Dublin was with Dr. Gianpiero Cavalleri, who with Dr. James Wilson, founded EthnoAncestry. They are leading population geneticists, who “bring the cutting edge of genetic research to [their] customers through development of new markers, identification of new genetic signatures and by providing authoritative interpretation of deep ancestry.” He was fascinated with the summary of Cooley DNA results which Greg Parker has established for the CFAA, and the stability of the DNA profile for the descendents of Benjamin Cooley, regardless of which of the four sons of Benjamin we each represented, eleven or more generations later.He encouraged me to use existing databases (such a y-base) which are growing every day, and look for matches with our Cooley model haplotype. I have begun to do that and so far our Cooley y-DNA profile is a better match to samples from central England than it is to, say, the Irish Modal Haplotype, which is well established in the literature.

One of our site-seeing stops in Dublin was their City Hall, a beautiful neo-classical building designed by Thomas Cooley (1740-1784). Checking his biography I discovered that he was a London architect who won the competition for a new building for the Royal Exchange, which eventually became the City Hall. He moved then to Dublin and in 1775 he was appointed Chief Architect to the Board of Works in Dublin. Checking the vast National Library in Dublin for his origins I learned the he was born in England of unknown parents.

After a wonderful week in Dublin, we boarded the Jonathan Swift Ferry to Holyhead, Wales. In Holyhead we got on a train direct to London. While in London, the main Cooley-related experience was a short train ride north to Tring, the probable birthplace of Benjamin Cooley in 1615. Through the CFAA I had previously made contact with David Cooley who had visited Tring in January of 2007, and he was very helpful in planning our visit. Tring has many charming English Tudor style buildings. For example, across the street from the Tring Parish Church is the Rose and Crown Hotel, which has existed on the present site since the 16th Century. We enjoyed a nice lunch there before we began our explorations of Tring. The town is full of history, with names like Rothschild and Washington (George’s great-grandfather), having once lived there. It should be noted that the Tring Parish Church (also known as the Tring Church of St. Peter and St. Paul) is in the Diocese of St. Albans, which explains the references to St. Albans in the Cooley family history.

It was a real thrill to walk around the ancient grounds of the Tring Parish Church, which is over 700 years old, with its knapped flint stone work exterior. The grounds are filled with tombstones, but none with legible dates earlier than 1800. Their parish records go back to 1566, and the CFAA has studied those records quite extensively (e.g. Debrett, 1987). They indicate that Benjamin Cooley was baptized there in February 25, 1615/16, son of William Cooley and Joan Arnott, who had been married in the parish in February 1608/9. [By the way, I puzzled over why recorded dates sometimes had double years. What I did not realize was that prior to 1752 the New Year began on March 25, so dates earlier in the year than March 25 were ambiguous, depending how one counted. All dates in the church records later than March 25 had only the single year.] No other records for Benjamin were found (e.g. marriage, burial, wills) so it seems safe to assume that Benjamin migrated to Massachusetts circa 1640 in his early twenties.

William Cooley had at least two other sons besides Benjamin: Jonathan and Joseph. Since there are Tring Parish records regarding the subsequent activities of those brothers, it is very possible that some of their descendents remained in the Hertfordshire area. When David Cooley visited Tring in 2007, he had found phone numbers for a number of Cooleys in that area, but was not successful in establishing their connection with our family. Prior to his visit, the CFAA had posted a plea in a UK genealogy site, asking for possible descendents of William Cooley to identify themselves and agree to DNA testing which the CFAA would pay for. There were no replies.

In my Trinity College interviews and in reading their surname-DNA studies, I learned that when they recruited individuals with a particular surname, the Trinity researchers would simply mail out DNA collection kits (simple cheek swabs) with an explanation about the purpose of the study and a promise to provide them with their own DNA results and keep their individual results confidential. I was amazed to learn that they had a thirty percent response rate. Apparently an interest in their family surname and getting a free DNA test were sufficient incentives for that high rate of response.

When I got back to Pittsburgh I re-read the first 158 pages of The Cooley Genealogy by Mortimer Cooley. What a remarkable and informative work that was. After my trip and my review of our genealogy and subsequent DNA studies, I have concluded that our best bet in finding Cooley relatives is not in Ireland, but in the area around Tring. I also believe that DNA profiles are a good bet in narrowing down where Benjamin Cooley emigrated from.

My paternal grandmother was Eleanor Cooley Harris, and had a sister - Elizabeth Cooley. So, I know that I am some Cooley. Like you, we have a summer place in New Hampshire, on my mother's side, on Pleasant Lake.Thanks for creating this blog, William.

My 4th great grandmother was Eleanor Cooley b. 1748 who married a David Wood. I don't know if this is the same ancestral line or not but would like to find out. Her parents were Nathaniel Cooley and Rachel Bliss. I would appreciate learning more about this Cooley line.

My name is Nina Cooley, I am from a line of Cooley's from Berkshire, but I don't know a huge amount about my ancestors. I thought you might like to know i'm here though, living in London, still a Cooley.

Our Cooley family apparently began with a ship that sailed from England that had my great-great grandfather Cooley on board as a cabin boy. The male descendants all had a first name of Hiram (I am the last Hiram). The family initially settled in Chicago, Il. We have since dispersed but the family roots were definitely in Chicago for several generations.

My Grandmother died when my mother and sibblings were very young. She was a born Cooley from the Cooley family in Gonzales Texas. I know nothing more about her than that. I would like to know if there are members of that Cooley line that can help me.

My maternal grandfather's name is Bill Cooley and I have an uncle in Malibu California named Bill Cooley. I live in New York, on Long Island and my mothers cousin started the Irish History Dept at NYU. I would love to do a DNA test to trace my genealogy. I have heard that the DNA test available today leave a lot to assume still and are not as specific as hoped.

My name is Antravius Cooley Sr. I'm of African descent. My great grandfather's name is Calvin J. Cooley he died in Stark, Fla. Me and most of my siblings are Cooleys.If anyone can tell me of his family I would love to hear anything that is helpful to my search. Thanks

Greetings all you Cooley's out there! My name is Michael Cooley and I'm in Chicago IL. My sister Liz Cooley has invested years of research on the Cooley origins here in the states and has accumulated a ton of information. I'll pass along this blog to her for input.

Hi, my name is Christine Cooley. I was told by my dad that my grandfather John Cooley, came on the boat from Ireland to Pittsburgh, Pa many years ago and met my grandmother Dorothy Kablach. Unfortunately, I don't know much about my Cooley family history because he left my grandmother before my father was even born. Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I am a Cooley on my fathers side. If you need more information on irish Cooleys then head to a town called edenderry in southern ireland. That town is my fathers birthplace and has plently of irish born and raised Cooleys

I am a Cooley on my fathers side. If you need more information on irish Cooleys then head to a town called edenderry in southern ireland. That town is my fathers birthplace and has plently of irish born and raised Cooleys

My name is Mary Dee Petty-Revan. My grandmother was Mary Delurah Cooley. Her father John Kelly Cooley married Mary Kelly. They were all born in South Carolina in the Mayo Area. My father was named James Kelly Cooley-Petty after his (what we were told) were our Scot-Irish ancestors. My Daddy remembers my grandfather having an "accent" and he worked on a farm but was also working at the shipyards in Charleston,SC as he was a noted shipbuilder and welder. My father's side of the family were quite superstitious and unfortunately were quite poor. Finding information on the Cooley ancestry has been hard because my Daddy's mother died when he was 7 and the family refused to talk about her other than saying she was a kind and loving woman. I'm not sure why but he death changed the family a great deal. My Daddy and his brother were sent to the Cooley farm to help slaughter hogs and their sister was sent high into the Appalachian mountains and was raised by a distant aunt- also a Cooley.

I was born Mary Cooley, my father was Dominick Cooley, his father Stephen Cooley, his father John Cooley. Our family were originally from Renvyle, Oranmore County Galway. The family home there is still in the family

My new is Thomas Lowery Cooley III I live in a suburb of Birmingham, AL. I am looking for information on the origins of Cooleys in this area, if anyone has any information they would like to share I can be reached at chipcooley@charter.net

My name is Marjo,My mom was born a Cooley and we are also descended from Benjamin Cooley. We have always been told that we were Irish, imagine our surprise when my sister and niece did a dna test and it came back as British! Now I am trying to dig deeper into the history of my mother's maiden name.

I posted back in 2017 and became so curious that I had a DNA test and discovered that my DNA does show 22% Ireland, 54% Great Britain and 7% Scandinavia. On the plotted graph I have the most coverage in Scotland, Wales, some in England and Ireland. As far as Scandinavia - Denmark. What I did find interesting in my report was that my DNA revealed a 100% European ancestry. According to the report, 100% European doesn't happen frequently. Apparently my percentage is higher than most people born in/living in Europe today. Most people born in "Great Britain and Ireland" today demonstrate between 82-88% European ancestry. I hope this helps. I also found out that my father's grandmother's name was Mary Kelly and he was always told her lineage was Irish as well. The specific counties he mentioned were Mayo, Galway, and Clare. I hope this helps.

I was born a Cooley in Cedar Rapids IA. Both of my grandparents were from Ireland. So I am a quarter Irish. My dad was the youngest of 12. I don't know much about this family. Many were very old or deceased at the time of my birth. I find it interesting that there are so many Cooley's. I went to high school with a Cooley and we were not related. Go figure. I have heard that Cascade Iowa holds some information about the Cooley family. I plan to research this more.